Pillowort
Pillowort (with the hotly contested alternate official name of Exsecratio frangeus) is also known as Teach You, and Sticky Fingers. It is a very rare plant, and only found in seabeds where the electric eels spawn their young. It is thought that the strength of its magical properties is directly derived from the proximity of the electric eels. Appearance Pillowort is a most innocuous looking plant. It grows on the bottom of the seabed in little blue fronds reaching from 2 to 6 inches high. The distinctive yellow dots along the edges of the fronds identify it; there is no other known water plant with that coloration or markings. Cautions There are no cautions for this plant. It is rated 1. It can be harvested at any time with no prior preparation. You must take care to avoid the electric eels, that is all. Care Of Pillowort is a most difficult plant to grow out of it's native environment. Attempts to grow it in a salt water environment have been semi-successful but it appears that there is a definite need for the presence of electric eels for its continued good health. With that in mind, you might try to grow it in a large tub, filled with salt water from the sea. Keep it in a shaded place, with no direct sunlight at all. Harvest when 5 to 6 inches high. Cut off the top 4 inches of growth. Spread in a thin layer on a flat glass dish (be sure to use glass and not any kind of metal) and dry in a dark, warm place. When dry, crumple up into small bits and store in a glass jar in a dark cool cupboard. Note: Unless you provide the necessary electricity that the electric eels provide, the directions for care will prove to be useless as it won't grow. Uses Pillowort is one of the very most useful herbal powders to have in a witches or wizards bag of tricks. As its official name(s) proclaim, it breaks up magic. Magicus frangeus - magicus = something of magic frangeus = to break, to rend asunder Exsecratio frangeus - Exsecratio = a word for curses or hexes frangeus = to break, to rend asunder (Indeed, if a person could discover a way to grow this plant in an artificial environment, and harvest and sell the herb, they would be rich. There have been many attempts to do this, but so far all are unsuccessful.) The basic use of this herb is as a protective measure. Just one or two ounces of it, carried in a dragon-skin bag on a string around your neck, is sufficient to render most of the more innocuous curses and hexes asunder. They also are thought to break up the effects of the more potent curses and even perhaps the forbidden curses of Imperio, Avada Kedavra and Cruciatus. Wizards have attempted to find out if it really does protect against Imperio and Cruciatus, but the experiments are non-conclusive, as it was proclaimed that "their heart wasn't in it". No one has wanted to see if it protects against the Avada Kedavra curse. Or if they did try it, no one was alive to report its success. Category:Herbology Category:Magical Plants Category:Water Plants